Yeast Experiment--Comparing 4 Strains

[osagedr]

Tomorrow an extremely kind and generous local brewery owner is allowing our brew club to make a batch on his pro equipment at his facility. It appears as though there will be enough wort for each member to get 10 gallons.

My brewing buddy and I are going to do five with each of four yeast strains: Wyeast 1056 (repitch from slurry); 1272; 1332; and 1450. Three-litre starters from smack packs were made for each of the latter three beers; 48 hours on a stir plate then chilled and will be decanted before pitching.

Mid-March in Winnipeg is usually still pretty chilly. I was going to ferment this beer in my garage holding the ambient temp in the upper 50s. However, the temperature is supposed to break records tomorrow, getting to 80 degrees or slightly over which means that the garage temperature will be at least that high. So I will be using my fermentation chamber instead (a 15 or so cf chest freezer), but it won't quite fit all four carboys.

So I guess I have little choice but to allow the temp on the fourth carboy to hover around 68 ambient, which is a ferm temp in the low 70s. From what I can see the 1332 is the best choice to ferment at a higher temperature.

Any advice?

 

[airving]

It sounds like you're set on using those 4 strains, but as food for thought it might be interesting to choose one strain and compare a warm fermented version vs a cool fermented version.

 

[osagedr]

It sounds like you're set on using those 4 strains, but as food for thought it might be interesting to choose one strain and compare a warm fermented version vs a cool fermented version.

That is an intriguing idea. I might try this with the 1332. I think I can fit my 3g carboy in the ferm chamber with the three 6g carboys then just leave another 3g carboy around 70 outside the chamber & see if we can taste a difference.

Thanks!

 

[tagz]

Make sure to report back. For those of us who use love to search old threads, it's frustrating when a promising experiment ends in silence. I'd love to hear the results.

 

[osagedr]

I'll do my best. There are a few certified judges in our club; I'll see if I can have them do some blind taste testing. Stay tuned!